David Mill's Stag-do: Canoeing, Gorge Walking & Archery

The adventures began last weekend at River Deep Mountain High in Coniston in the Lake District. A weekend of drinking, canoeing, gorge walking, drinking, archery, and more drinking.

Who will conquer?

Dave enjoying his 15th drink of the night, the night before the activities. Mistake?

Flash Fiction turned into art for GRAPHITE Magazine

As Publishing Coordinator for 3dtotal Publishing, I'm fortunate to be involved in many of our amazing publications. We've recently begun a quarterly magazine for illustrators and artists called GRAPHITE; a magazine that showcases impressive artwork using traditional mediums. It's a great resource for inspiration, plus looks amazing on the coffee table.

Not only do I proofread this publication (we're about to send issue 4 to the printers) but I also contribute flash fiction for a narrative illustration section. These are fun to write, and it's really cool to see the artist's interpretation of my words. These have inspired me to challenge myself to write a piece of flash fiction every day. I've even set up an Instagram called dailyflashfiction to try and ride that hype train. While I'm getting graphics, and my headspace in the 'write' place, I thought I'd share the three that have been included so far, and the resultant artwork.

GRAPHITE 1

Comic artist and illustrator Jerel Dye created the below image.

GRAPHITE 2

Illustrator Rob Turpin created the artwork below. Otherwise known as thisnorthernboy on Instragram.

GRAPHITE 3

Illustrator and painter Daniel Landerman created his interpretation:

If the process behind these images interest you, you can always check out the issues here. Hopefully the dailyflashes will begin next week! (I have a bit of a stag do this weekend!)

Supporting fellow Indie novelists

I've recently been doing more and more articles for other sites (namely Cultured Vultures), as well as being more proactive on Goodreads and Twitter. I've also recently been able to cut down my reading list due to some car issues and becoming a bus wanker. The novelty soon wore off, but I did manage to finish 3 books.

Thus, I shall be reaching out to indie authors and self-publishers to offer to review their books. Reviews will be posted on Cultured Vultures, with shortened versions on Amazon and Goodreads, and linked through from here, posted on Twitter and Facebook.

If you'd like your book reviewed, drop me an email to aj.smith@writeme.com and let me know the details. PDF is the preferred format until I actually get a Kindle or proper eReader,

BOOK REVIEW: Vessel And Solsvart By Berit Ellingsen

Vessel and Solsvart is the upcoming Snuggly Books release written by Norwegian writer Berit Ellingsen.

Snuggly in name and nature – the book is a quaint 104 pages of narrative poetry no bigger than a pocket notebook. But beware, the content is anything but snuggly. Featuring five short stories that explore the darker side of nature, through sometimes visceral language, and often reading more like a prose poem (assisted by the narrow format of the book’s columns), we are treated to beautifully told tales that dip into sci-fi, horror, mystery and magic.

https://culturedvultures.com/book-review-vessel-solsvart-berit-ellingsen/

Book Review: Metro 2033

Echoing many voices from the other reviews, this book would probably look a lot different and have a lot fewer pages if it were to go through the hands of an industry editor. The typos from the Russian to English translation didn't bother me, but there was a fair amount of gumpf that could've been cut. At least half of the book must be dialogue, which was fine - I quite liked the stories that the many cast told - however, the same points were often repeated, with each next sentence elaborating further and further on the previous one, even though we got it after the first sentence.

TV Review: Hulu's Chance with Hugh Laurie

Hugh Laurie stars as Dr Eldon Chance, a forensic neuro-psychologist who gets mixed up in a shady under-world of dark goings on, in Hulu’s new show, Chance. Following his success playing a sarcastic genius in House, Hugh again tries his hand as a doctor, but this is a completely different character. No doubt many House fans will be giving Chance a chance, if only to see if this is House 2.0, so don’t be fooled. In spite of House’s gammy leg, Chance is positively lethargic in comparison.

http://culturedvultures.com/take-chance-hulus-chance/

Game Review: The Tomorrow Children (PS4)

The Tomorrow Children is a now free-to-play social game available on the PS4 (was out for a price earlier this year) – and it’s pretty weird. There wasn’t much information about it on the PS Store screen, but as someone who’ll try all or most of the free games, I began the download.

http://culturedvultures.com/the-tomorrow-children-ps4-review/

TV REVIEW: The Walking Dead Season 7 – Episode 2: The Well

If last week’s season premiere was a home run, that baseball was severely smacked out of the park, hitting a few unsuspecting heads on its way. Episode 2 was sure to be a bit of a bunt in comparison, but it was a welcome change of pace; in effect, it was the show taking back control.

http://culturedvultures.com/walking-dead-season-7-episode-2-well/

11 Unsettling Movie Scenes That Got Under The Skin

Around Halloween, I’m always checking the listings to see what specials are going to be on. Perhaps something that Netflix can’t recommend me, or a classic I haven’t seen in awhile. With that in mind, it got me thinking of scenes which, for one reason or other, got under my skin...

http://bit.ly/2e8273d

TV Retrospective: House

In light of the recent landing on Hollywood Boulevard of Hugh Laurie’s marbley star, I thought I’d take a look back at his most famed success, House. 

http://bit.ly/2dXBRoE

TV REVIEW: The Walking Dead Season 7 Premiere

Season 7 seemed a long way off back in April after the cliffhanger that was the season 6 finale. I hated that ending: all tension without a pay-off, and for me it was lazy writing. They had the opportunity to create a “Red Wedding” moment in the “Game of Thrones” vein...

http://bit.ly/2eyMwdC

What would make No Man's Sky a better experience?

“No Man’s Sky.” Three little words that have become a byword for disappointment. Just Google it and what stands out is not the slew of complaints and controversy, which this article won’t go into, but the utter silence.

http://culturedvultures.com/make-no-mans-sky-better/

Westworld: The Good, the Bad, and the Robots

So here it is, another new TV show flying off the conveyer-belt. You’ve barely hungrily devoured “House” (4.9 hours of my life I’m reliably told), and now the familiar *beep* as another morsel of television somehow makes its way into your shopping bag...

http://bit.ly/2eJc7hk

The Strain – TV Horror for Halloween You May Have Missed

Channel FX’s The Strain is one of those love-to-hate TV shows that you can pick on and tease, like a younger sibling. Not an episode goes by that I don’t comment snarkily as...

http://bit.ly/2famVta

New short story available on blog

Hi folks,

I've made a new short story available to read right here on the blog. To check it out, click on the Dawn tab above, or click here: https://adamjsmithauthor.blogspot.co.uk/p/dawn.html.

This is a sample of what can be expected in the eerie ghost novel Spirits of Eden, where the narrator is the frontier, watching a group of families as they try to survive for a television show (similar to Frontier House).

I hope you enjoy - if you check it out, do let me know what you think. It was submitted to various competitions, but you never get feedback from those!